LHM Lenten Devotion – March 31, 2014 “Laid in the Dust”

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“Laid in the Dust”

March 31, 2014

Read Psalm 44. TEXT: You lay me in the dust of death (see Psalm 22:15).

A clay water pot strikes the ground and shatters. The precious water pours out in every direction, seeps into the dust and disappears, leaving only the broken potsherds behind. In this image King David prophecies the crucifixion of his great descendent, the Lord Jesus Christ. We see His very life pour out of His wounds and disappear into the dust beneath the cross.

When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden He strongly warned him against eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, saying, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (see Genesis 2:16-17). When Adam and Eve ate that fruit, God pronounced their-and our-punishment: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

Because of our sinful nature each of us has forfeited our lives. We too must die and our bodies be buried in the ground to return to the dust from which we were taken. But God provided a substitute sacrifice-the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. Jesus laid down His life in the dust. His lifeless body, the broken potsherd, was buried in a borrowed tomb. But three days later He rose in triumphant victory. Because He lives forever, all those who trust in Him will live forever with Him. One day we will die, be buried and return to the dust (unless Jesus returns first). But Jesus will return in glory to raise our lowly bodies and make them glorious like His own.

THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, You took on Yourself the punishment for my sin, being laid in the dust of death that I might live in Your presence forever. Receive my thanks and praise now and forever. Amen.